The present invention relates generally to seats and more particularly to the back shroud for a vehicle seat used on public transportation vehicles such as busses or rapid transit cars.
Conventionally, such seats are mounted on a metal seat frame having a back portion, and, for esthetic purposes, the exposed parts of the frame's back portion are covered by an exterior, decorative, plastic back shroud. The back portion of the seat frame typically comprises a pair of vertically disposed side bars and a top bar extending between the upper ends of the two side bars.
Certain problems arise in conventional seat constructions utilizing metal seat frames and exterior, plastic back shrouds. For example, the back shrouds are typically assembled to the back portion of the seat frame with metal fasteners which can be removed by vandals causing the assembly to come apart and rendering the plastic back shroud very susceptible to pilferage. In addition, the back shroud can be damaged by vandals, and this requires periodic replacement of the shroud.
Removal of a damaged shroud and/or installation of a replacement shroud is relatively lengthy and tedious, when the shroud is attached to the frame with numerous fasteners.